Weave of Manquehue Prayer pilgrimage to Tyburn

Forty Martyrs pilgrimage group

The Forty Martyrs Community, a London-based Lectio Divina group, went on pilgrimage to Tyburn on Saturday.

The Community is part of the Weave of Manquehue Prayer, a network of Lectio Divina groups across the British Isles who are affiliated with the Manquehue Apostolic Movement - a lay Benedictine movement founded in Chile.

The Forty Martyrs Community is named after the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales who were martyred for their Catholic faith between the years 1535 and 1681. Most were executed at Tyburn gallows, which is commemorated by a small plaque on a traffic island near Marble Arch.

Hubert, one of the participants, explained how the group got its name. "With many of us being former pupils or staff of Downside School, we were inclined to choose a saint associated with Benedictine spirituality", he said. "Bearing in mind the glorious legacy of St John Roberts and St Ambrose Barlow (after whom two Downside houses were named), I suggested that we name the group in honour of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales."

The pilgrimage was organised at short notice in the wake of the annual Weave of Manquehue Ampleforth retreat having been cancelled, due to the postponed lifting of lockdown restrictions.

The pilgrimage started at Tower Hill, where the group read from the Rule of St Benedict and prayed Lauds for the Feast of the English Martyrs (which usually falls on 4th May). They then set off on foot towards Tyburn.

Along the way the group stopped at the Charterhouse, originally the home of a Carthusian monastery dissolved by Henry VIII and now an almshouse for single people over 60 years old. The monks from this monastery were amongst the very first Catholics to be martyred at Tyburn.

The group made their way to Tyburn convent for Eucharistic Adoration. The convent holds some of the relics of the Forty Martyrs and because the Tyburn nuns follow the Rule of St Benedict they have a similar charism to the Manquehue Apostolic Movement. The nuns pray night and day before the exposed Blessed Sacrament to honour the martyrs and pray for the needs of all mankind.

In nearby Hyde Park the group found a quiet spot to read and meditate upon the Gospel of the Mass for the Feast of the English Martyrs (Matthew 10:17-20):

"Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

The pilgrimage closed with prayers at the site of Tyburn gallows, where most of the Forty Martyrs met their grisly end.

George, who was leading the pilgrimage, said: "The pilgrimage through the City of London and to Tyburn Tree was a wonderful walk to understand the footsteps taken by the English Martyrs over the centuries; fundamentally to take on that same faith, that same bravery, and the same courage that we (as a Lectio community in this city) are called to make today. For our journey doesn't only happen in memory of the past but of the present, as the Martyrs are our patron saints that we look to as an example to follow. The act of a pilgrimage continues to develop the companionship and shared experience that nurtures the spiritual friendship which is the keystone to the living charism of Manquehue. This Saturday was our moment, as a community, to help one another to pray."

LINKS

Forty Martyrs lectio group website: https://forty-martyrs.com/ email: fortymartyrscommunity@gmail.com

Weave of Manquehue: www.weaveofmanquehue.org/